At the close of Miss Addams’ lecture an opportunity was given for discussion and the questions asked showed much interest in Hull House and its work.
One question was: “When foreigners join the classes at Hull House do they evince a desire to become American citizens?” Miss Addams answered: “They evince a desire to learn the English language for they realize they cannot compete with Americans in business if they do not, and they are, as a rule, anxious for work. Many of them, contrary to our belief, are people bright and apt and capable of a degree of culture that we do not give them credit for, and whose home relations are superior to those with which they come in contact in the 'seamy side of life' in this country. Indeed their opinion of us as Americans is not at all flattering.”
Miss Addams believes many men who get the reputation for unwillingness to work are in reality the victims of nervous prostration brought on from under nourishment.
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